Tarragon cream chicken

This recipe is absurdly quick and simple – it’s good for unexpected guests because you’re likely to have most of the ingredients in the house already (and may well already find them all lurking in your fridge). It’s rich and delicious, and it only needs a salad and some crusty bread to accompany it and soak up the creamy juices.

If you can get your hands on some fresh tarragon, use that. Dried tarragon, however, is surprisingly good here. There are no similar short-cuts you can take with the parsley, though; dried parsley is useless and revolting, so you’ll have to find some fresh.

To serve three, you’ll need:

Three chicken breast fillets
3 tablespoons flour
400ml crème fraîche
3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon (or 3 teaspoons dried)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Half a lemon
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper

Chop the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and dust them with the flour and a little salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a sauté pan and heat it until it starts to bubble. Add the chicken to the pan and sauté until it is cooked through and starting to brown at the edges. Turn the heat down low.

Tip the crème fraîche, herbs and mustard into the pan and stir well. Bring up to a simmer and add the lemon juice and some salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning, adding a little more lemon juice if you like, and serve immediately.

13 Replies to “Tarragon cream chicken”

  1. Hiya Mz Lz

    We discovered Tarragon grows like a weed here in Cambridgeshire – we had to lop most of ours away as it was overtaking the rosemary, parsley and even the thyme. We had an ordinary nursery plant – nothing special and have pretty much left it to its own devices.

  2. Regarding Tarragon, what's the best way to prepare the fresh stuff? I just started trying it in a variation on this recipe, and while the dried is just a matter of tossing it in, I'm seeing lots of different suggestions on how use fresh Tarragon. Don't use too much, you can't use too much, slice the leaves, bruise the leaves… you get the picture. 😉

  3. Hi Jonny

    It really depends on what you're cooking with it! If I was using it to flavour a stock or a milk infusion, I'd leave the leaves whole on the stem, bruise the whole a bit and chuck it in. Otherwise, I usually strip the leaves off the stem (unless it's the tender top of the stem, which you can use whole as a garnish) and chop finely. As regards use a little/use a lot, I'd experiment a bit and let your tastebuds guide you! In this recipe, you can get away with using a lot.

  4. This recipe is great! spot on!! my partner and I enjoyed it so much! I used chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts as I think thighs have better flavour and texture.

  5. I prefer them too much of the time – I do tend to recommend breasts round these parts, though, because British people seem to find them much more palatable. This is a great sauce for disguising less than handsome bits of brown meat, too.

  6. When I do it I put chicken in the oven for half the time needed then I pour double cream and butter on with chopped tarragon Then leave it for the last half of time Then serve it with green beans and potatoes Millie

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